Fillet steak with gruyère cauliflower cheese

Tender fillet steak, in buttery Madeira juices, served with a bubbling Gruyère cauliflower cheese and soft garlicky chard. Wonderfully decadent cosy dinner for two.

By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen Recipes

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This fillet steak with Gruyère cauliflower cheese is a luxurious, higher‑calorie main sits around a D on the Nutri-Score scale. It is packed with protein from the steak and milk, plus calcium from the Gruyère and cheddar, but also carries a fair amount of saturated fat and salt from the butter, cheese and jus. Think of it as a treat dish for special occasions rather than an everyday plate, and adjust portion sizes and sides if you want to lighten it up. (Score is automatically estimated from the ingredients and should be taken only as a guide)

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Equipment

• Large frying pan
• Roasting tin
• Small roasting dish
• Large saucepan
• Whisk
• Sharp kitchen knife 🛒 Check out Amazon’s Choice
• Chopping board
• Measuring jug
• Tongs

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Method

Stage 1: Cook and rest the steak (about 30–40 minutes, including resting)

1. 1. Heat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7 so it is nice and hot by the time the steak goes in. Make sure your fillet steak is at room temperature – this helps it cook evenly and stay tender.
   2. Season the steak generously all over with salt. Do this just before it goes in the pan so the surface seasons nicely without drawing out too much moisture.
   3. Melt the butter and sear by warming the butter in a large frying pan over medium–high heat until it foams. Lay in the steak and sear it on all sides, turning with tongs, until you have a deep brown crust. This is your flavour base, so do not rush it.
   4. Roast the fillet by moving the browned steak to a roasting tin and placing it in the hot oven for 6–8 minutes for medium–rare. Go a little shorter or longer depending on how thick your steak is and how you like it cooked.
   5. Add the Madeira and aromatics by taking the tin out of the oven and carefully pouring in the Madeira, along with the thyme sprigs and smashed garlic clove. Tilt the tin and spoon the buttery juices over the meat a few times so it soaks up that rich flavour.
   6. Finish with beef jus by adding the reduced beef jus or good‑quality beef stock to the tin and returning it to the oven for 1–2 minutes. This quickly brings everything together into a glossy, steak‑loving sauce.
   7. Rest the steak properly by lifting it onto a warm plate or board, spooning over some of the juices, covering loosely with foil and leaving it to rest for at least 20 minutes somewhere warm. This pause lets the juices settle so every slice is tender and moist.

Stage 2: Make the Gruyère cauliflower cheese (about 35–40 minutes, overlaps with steak resting)

1. 1. Reduce the oven temperature to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 once the steak is out so it is ready for the cauliflower cheese.
   2. Infuse the milk by putting the milk and bay leaf into a large saucepan and bringing it just up to the boil. As soon as it reaches the boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer very gently for a couple of minutes, then switch off and let the bay sit in the milk while you start the roux.
   3. Make a golden roux by melting the butter in another large saucepan over medium heat until it just starts to turn nutty and brown around the edges of the pan. Stir in the flour to make a paste and cook it for a minute or two, stirring, to cook out the raw flour taste.
   4. Whisk in the milk gradually by fishing out and discarding the bay leaf, then slowly adding the warm milk to the roux, a little at a time. Whisk as you pour so you get a smooth white sauce without lumps. Take your time – if it looks thick, add more milk and keep whisking.
   5. Simmer and add the cheeses by letting the sauce bubble very gently for a minute to thicken, then sprinkling in the grated Gruyère and cheddar. Stir until everything melts into a glossy, cheesy sauce.
   6. Season the sauce by stirring in the Dijon mustard, then tasting and adding salt and black pepper until the flavour sings. Remember the cheese is salty, so go gradually.
   7. Assemble the cauliflower cheese by placing the blanched cauliflower (with some leaves if you like them) into a small roasting dish. Pour the hot cheese sauce all over, nudging it so the sauce gets into the gaps.
   8. Bake until bubbling and golden by sliding the dish into the oven and cooking for about 25 minutes, or until the top is deeply golden, bubbling around the edges and the cauliflower is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.

Stage 3: Wilt the chard (about 5 minutes – do this while the cauliflower finishes)

1. 1. Heat the oil in a large lidded frying pan over medium–high heat. When it is shimmering, add the shredded chard and toss it quickly in the hot oil.
   2. Steam to finish by adding a small splash of water and seasoning with salt and black pepper. Pop the lid on and let the chard steam for another 2 minutes or so, just until it has wilted and turned silky but still a lovely bright green.

Stage 4: Slice and plate up (about 5 minutes)

1. Slice the rested steak across the grain into thick, neat slices. It should be beautifully rosy in the centre with plenty of juices ready to mingle with the sauce.
2. Build each plate by spooning half of the Gruyère cauliflower cheese onto each warmed plate. Pile the chard over the top, then lay the steak slices over the greens.
3. Finish with juices and chives by pouring any resting juices and the Madeira‑beef jus mixture over the steak. Scatter over the finely chopped chives for a fresh, gentle onion hit and take the plates straight to the table while everything is hot and irresistible.